Mittwoch, 29. Mai 2013

SELLARONDA MTB TOUR:

TOURISTS OR HEROES FOR A DAY

The23rd June sees the start of the
mountain bike tourism season whereby you can get around the Sella Group with a
little help from the lift systems.
And new this year is the Sellaronda E-BIKE enabling one and all to hire a bike
and pedal with ease along pleasant mountain stretches.

Val Gardena (BZ), 24.05.2013 – One of the benefits which the
SÜDTIROLSELLARONDA HERO has
brought, and which has nothing to do with race competition but which has become
more and more apparent over the last three years, is that theHERO and mountain biking in general have
helped more and more people to discover the DOLOMITES. It is not only skiing in
the winter or trekking in the summer, but mountain biking too, which helps
people to appreciate the sensational and unique experience of spending time
here in the valleys recognised by UNESCO as a WORLD NATIONAL HERITAGE SITE.
Once the big race day is over the Dolomites revel in their role as one of the
favourite destinations of fans of mountain bike excursions. To tour the Sella
Group, be it with your own pedal power or a little electrical assistance, is an
adventure not to miss out on. And the best way to do it? TheSELLARONDA
MTB TOUR is a guided excursion which allows bikers who are reasonably fit
and experienced in the discipline to cover most parts of the HERO route and
take in the experience and the emotions which only the Dolomite scenario can
offer.

The
Sellaronda MTB TOUR 2013 kicks off
on the 23rd June, the day
after the HERO, and the season comes to a close on the 22nd September. In this period you can take part in the
TOUR and be assisted by a mountain bike guide, possible to book in any of the 4
valleys forming part of the itinerary: VAL
GARDENA, ALTA BADIA, ARABBA, VAL DI FASSA.

Having a guide to assist you on
the TOUR has numerous advantages.
Apart from assistingbikers in the more
difficult parts or helping out in case of bike problems the mtb guides know how
to show off the Dolomites to their best– and all for your enjoyment! It is important to point out that some
parts of the itinerary have quite difficult bits and that you need to be in
good shape and have some mtb experience and decent technique to be able to do
the Sellaronda MTB TOUR. It is
possible to start from a number of the villages along the Sella Group route - Selva
Gardena, Corvara, Arabba, Canazei, Campitello, and to travel in a clockwise
direction as the HERO race itself, or in an anti-clockwise direction.

‘THE
CLOCKWISE TOUR’, it having undergone one or two alterations from past years, is
65 kilometres long and has a total altitude difference of 3,980 metres (550 of
which are to cycle), whilst ‘THE
ANTI-CLOCKWISE TOUR’ is 55 km long (or 56 km if you take the chairlift
Montepana - Mont Seura) and has a total altitude difference of 3,200 metres,
you needing to cycle only 1,200 metres of these! The cost of the daily ticket
for the TOUR is Euro 70,00 and this includes the services of the guide, your
personal transport on the lift systems, and covers also the cost of your bike
transport on lifts.

Changes for the summer 2013 season
concern the lift systems. If you do the TOUR in a clockwise direction there is
a change at Selva Val Gardenain that
you now take the Ciampinoi cablecar (theDantercepies lift is closed
for renewal work) Once at the top you continue with an uphill ride to
Rifugio Comici and then a downhill to Plan de Gralba, and then up on the road
to Ponte Gardena. Then the TOUR carries on using 6 other lifts: the Col Alt
cabinlift, the Braia chairlift, the Fraida lift, the Campolongo chairlift, and
the Portavescovo cablecar.On from here
you will take the Maria chairlift (the Fodom lift is closed this summer as
there is a new lift being built) and you will finish by taking the Col Rodella
cablecar. For those who choose to do the Sellaronda MTB TOUR 2013 in an
anti-clockwise direction four lifts will be used – you being able to start from
any of the four valleys as for the clockwise route. The lifts are the Campinoi
cablecar and the Mont Seura chairlift, then the Belvedere cabinlift, the Col
dei Rossi cablecar, and finally the Plans – Frara cabinlift.

The
real big news for summer 2013 is the advent of the SELLARONDA E-BIKE, ‘E’ being for Electric. So it will be possible to
do theSellaronda MTB TOUR with a little
bit of electrical assistance, still taking the lifts for uphill climbs, whilst
the downhills will be on forest or asphalted roads. An alternative safe and
easy way to enjoy the Dolomites for those who do not have great experience of
mountain biking on open terrain. Along the route there will be 4 points to
recharge your e-bike thanks to the Bosch battery system. All in all a great
chance to enjoy the Dolomite life without any stress and hence our claim of
"Easy panorama mountain bike tour".

As for the main TOUR the SELLARONDA E-BIKE version can
be done in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction, the former being71 km long with an altitude difference to
pedal of 700 m (note that the total altitude difference including transport on
lift systems is 3,600 m). As for the anti-clockwise route the total distance is
58/62 km, the altitude difference to pedal is between 750 and 1,150 m, and the
total altitude difference is 3,000 m).

The Sellaronda MTB TOUR is an example of a real practical project
involving independent organisations in 3 provinces (Bolzano, Trento, and
Belluno), and in each valley there is a reference point. In Val Gardena it is
Dolomiti Adventures (www.dolomiti-adventures.com), in Selva it is Selva Active (www.selva-active.com), in Alta Badia it is Dolomite Biking (www.dolomitebiking.com).

DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE ROUTES
IN 3D CAN BE FOUND ATWWW.SELLARONDATOUR.COM

The SELLARONDA MTB TOUR, both in the
clockwise and anti-clockwise directions can be seen on the new INTERNET 3D
DOLOMITES application, a world of virtual reality which allows you to navigate
via use of the mouse in a third dimension highlighting the Dolomites and their
wonders, the spectacular mountain bike routes, freeride parks and necessary
service to plan your mountain bike day out in the world’s most beautiful
mountains. The Sellaronda MTB TOUR routes can also be seen in the new 3D video
format so you can have an idea of the tour before setting out and of course
reliving it afterwards – go to www.3d-dolomites.com